Signal School Study Says Under Own School System Much More Could Go To The Classroom; Lennon Says Getting Land, Buildings A Major Issue

  • Sunday, February 26, 2017
  • Gail Perry

A panel studying a new school system operated by Signal Mountain concluded that much more money could go directly into the classroom, helping students further increase their potential.

 

However, County School Board member Kathy Lennon said how the town would be able to acquire the land and buildings is a major issue.

 

A group of Signal Mountain residents interested in making sure that students could meet their potential earlier formed an ad hoc committee to study the feasibility of forming a school system independent from Hamilton County.

Their findings were presented to members of the newly appointed School System Viability Committee (SSVC) at a public meeting Saturday afternoon. The ad hoc group was made up of Tom McCullough, Amy Wakim, Bill Leonard, Don Close, Kayse Rigsby, Bill Kennedy and Rob Hensley.

 

Representatives from the Signal Mountain community, including the town itself, Walden and unincorporated areas that are in Hamilton County were chosen for the seven-member SSVC. They are Tom McCullough and Amy Wakim who were both in the original ad hoc group along with John Friedl, Melissa Wood, Charles Spencer Tom Peterson and Susan Speraw.

 

At the meeting, the information that was gathered and compiled by the original group was handed over to the SSVC, which is tasked with finding facts and answering questions and not to give opinions.

 

Rob Hensley told the full room that the reason the schools on Signal Mountain do well is because of the community, not because of Hamilton County. When Signal Mountain Middle High School opened in 2008, the town and Walden paid $10 million to add to the $36 million from Hamilton County. The town also made donations of $1.1 million for start-up funds used to pay for basic equipment for the science lab and sports, art and band supplies. It also paid for the stadium lights, bleachers and the track. Since the school opened, $8 million more in donations have been made, which have been used for teachers, and technology, bathrooms, sports facilities, buses to football games and maintenance of the sports fields among other things. All of these should be considered as basic items, said Mr. Hensley.

 

Each student is also required to pay general education fees at registration and additional fees, or to raise the funds for extracurricular activities including all sports. An example of one family with three children paid $1,837 in additional fees to attend SMMHS last year. Volunteers from the community also fill gaps in the classrooms and in sports activities and maintenance of the facilities.

 

Academic outcomes from Signal Mountain schools look good versus Hamilton County schools, but not when compared to others across the state. The top public schools in Tennessee are in Williamson County. Brentwood, which is located there and where ACT score percentiles are 85, was used for comparison. The scores are 75 percentile from SMMHS, and 25 percentile from East Ridge. The mountain schools are equal with Brentwood at the elementary level, but fall behind in the middle and high school. When measured at end of course testing, Brentwood ranks about double in the core testing in comparison and SMMHS is about double below grade level measurements compared to Brentwood.

 

The ad hoc committee used a study done by the city of Bartlett, a suburb of Memphis, as a blueprint for creating a school district, and it was found that Signal Mountain could meet all the requirements. The first step would be for the residents to vote on the referendum and vote for the school board members. Those members would hire a superintendent who hires teachers and staff and applies for approval for the new district by the state Department of Education.

 

The rough estimate is that 60 percent of the students now in the schools come from the town, 10 percent from Walden and 30 percent from the county, but better information is needed to confirm those figures. Interlocal agreements with the various other municipalities would be needed to enable other municipalities to send students, and the new school district could put policies in place to guarantee attendance from those areas.

 

The budget created for this study is based on 2,430 students. The ad hoc committee found that money coming from both the state and Hamilton County would follow the students to the new schools. In addition to that, however, $385,000 would have to be contributed. It would not necessarily have to come from a tax increase; it could be satisfied by the town providing services or facilities for the new system. Students coming from outside the town’s city limits would need to pay a “fair share" or tuition fee of $250 since they do not contribute in the form of taxes to the town. This is considered to be a wash since the current, existing fee for attending the school is $250.

 

The estimated revenue for the district would be $20 million, roughly the same as the current allocation from HCDE for the Signal Mountain schools. The new, major revenue changes in the proposed budget are the contribution of $320, 000 from the town and $153,000 “fair share fees” from non-Signal Mountain residents. This budget would cover needs that are considered to be basic, so that money coming from the Mountain Education Foundation would be used for “excellence initiatives.”

 

The creation of a new school system would not impair, interrupt or diminish the rights of existing teachers by Tennessee law, but they would need to reapply and be rehired, the group said. Substantial savings of $1.7 million are projected from the smaller structure of the central office, which for the small system could have fewer levels and could be housed within the school or another existing city-owned structure. Benefits could also come from synergies created with the town and the school district such as sharing recreation facilities and the library and SRO position but this has not been fully explored. It was estimated that the proposed budget would allow spending $1.8 million more in the classroom than is being spent now, equating to an additional $734 per student.

 

Some issues have not yet been addressed, including the mountain residents that are currently served by schools or programs not currently offered on Signal Mountain such as for special needs or magnet and vocational schools. And much of the information presented Saturday needs to be verified

 

Ms. Lennon said her biggest question is how this initiative could move forward with a budget when they do not know about the land and buildings. The matter of buildings and land has been taken out of the hands of the SSVC and will be dealt with by the town council, City Attorney Phil Noblett and attorneys for Hamilton County Department of Education.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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